Ziva in Somalia
by Aspie007
Summary: My take on what happened to her in Somalia before she was rescued. Or, more accurately, before Saleem captured Tony and McGee. Please review so I know if I should keep going. Also, I am open to suggestions.
1. Chapter 1

Ziva's head was slumped forward and her eyes were closed. Saleem left her alone again about an hour ago. She tried to remember how long she had been there. She knew that she found Saleem's camp after leaving her injured agent to return to Israel while she went to complete their mission. She knew that she gunned down several of Saleem's men before she was taken captive. What happened next, she didn't know. She had woken up tied to a hard wooden chair. How long had she been unconscious? It could've been a few hours or possibly days. At that point, all she knew was that she had failed. Not only had she been unable to kill Saleem, but she had been captured alive. Something she had promised herself she would never let happen. The only way she could beat Saleem was to not tell him what he wanted to know. She just hoped that he would realize she wouldn't tell him anything and kill her soon.

Saleem walked down the dim hallway and slid open the dead bolt on the door. He paused for a moment before entering the small cell. He looked at Ziva slumped in the chair, completely defeated. Saleem took a syringe and a small glass vial from a pouch on his belt. He drew some of the liquid from the vial into the syringe. Ziva shuddered as he approached. He grabbed her arm and slowly inserted the needle, pushing the clear liquid into her body. Then the interrogation began in earnest. It was the same every time. "Tell me everything you know about NCIS." Ziva resisted the drug's effects as long as she could. Her vision blurred and she felt like her head was going to explode. The pain was so intense; she cursed at Saleem in Hebrew. Saleem reacted instantly. He lashed out. There was a sickening crack then blood gushed from Ziva's nose. Saleem turned and angrily walked out, slamming the door behind him. Ziva whispered a small prayer before letting herself slip into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Saleem paced back and forth nervously. He had expected Ziva to break by now. He knew that he had to break her soon or he would never get anything out of her because his interrogation techniques would reduce her to an empty shell: no emotions, no thoughts, nothing. There must be a way to make her talk. It seemed that she didn't care about anyone, not even herself. At least not when she was awake and could control her thoughts and emotions. At night, guards had reported that she had been muttering in her sleep. One name was repeated quite a lot: Tony. He realized that Ziva would do anything to protect him.

He ordered one of his sleeper cells in D.C. start spying on Tony to figure out about the personal relationships within NCIS. Soon he had a plan to lure Tony to his camp. First, he started buying Caf-Pow to give them something easy to trace to the camp. He knew it was unlikely that NCIS would raid his camp because of a drink, no matter how hard it was to get. There was no way they could justify a military mission on foreign soil based on a drink trail. He also knew that Tony would follow the Caf-Pow without authorization if he thought he could rescue Ziva. Now he just had to wait. In the meantime, he would continue his interrogation of Ziva, but he would have to be careful not to mention his plan. She would talk more if she were so shocked to see Tony in his captivity that she was unable to fully censor her thoughts. After the initial shock wore off, she would keep talking in order to protect Tony. And Tony would talk to protect her, too. It was a win-win situation for Saleem.


	3. Chapter 3

A few weeks later Saleem was getting impatient. He had thought Tony would have come running to Ziva's aid once the steady shipments of Caf-Pow had been discovered. He pushed away the thought that even Tony had given up on Ziva. It was not possible. He just had to wait a little longer. Saleem decided that since he had to wait, he might as well try to get some information out of Ziva. Even if she didn't break, he could release some of the frustration caused by Tony's slow response on her. Saleem sharpened his knife; this interrogation was going to be a little different.

Ziva lifted her head when she heard the door open. She saw Saleem's knife glint in the light and sighed. He had threatened her with his knife so many times that she lost count, but he had never used it so she was not worried. It would just be another interrogation. Saleem would ask her about NCIS, she wouldn't talk, and then he would beat her until she passed out. At least, that's what she thought would happen.

Saleem waved his knife lazily in front of Ziva's face. Ziva watched it intently. If she hadn't been bound to the chair, she would have grabbed it and had him on the ground at knifepoint before he knew what hit him. Saleem grinned, pleased with Ziva's helplessness. Now it was time to really interrogate her. First, he had to show her he meant business. He raised his hand and, with a flash of silver, sliced open Ziva's left arm. She cried out in pain and shock. Blood was pouring out of the gash and staining her already dirty shirt. Saleem bent down and put his face inches from Ziva's, "Tell me everything you know about NCIS." Ziva looked at her now red shirt and thought how easy it would be if she just talked. Then she thought of everyone at NCIS, of Tony and she knew she had to be strong for them, "No," she looked him directly in the eye, "I'm not going to tell you anything." Ziva waited for the blow that always followed a refusal to talk but it never came. Instead, Saleem smiled at her, "You will talk." He said simply. Ziva was unsure what Saleem meant. He hadn't injected her with his truth serum this time. Had he? Ziva quickly checked her arm to see if she could find a new needle mark. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see one. Saleem stared at her amused while she nervously looked up and down her arm. "I do not need truth serum to make you talk. Perhaps you will be more open after a week by yourself." With that he turned his back and walked out. As he passed the guard he said, "Do not give her any food or water until she is ready to tell me what she knows," then he lowered his voice so Ziva could not hear, "or until her friend shows up."


	4. Chapter 4

Ziva lapsed in and out of consciousness. She was so weak from hunger that she was unable to hold her head up for even a few seconds. Each breath was more difficult than the last and dry coughs shook her emaciated frame. Every inch of her body hurt. Ziva had never felt more helpless than she did right then. She prayed for the peace that death would bring.

...

Tony looked around the desert. He thought back to his comment to Gibbs about how the Arabic word for desert is Sahara so the Sahara Desert is actually desert desert. He realized just how true that was as he stared at the never-ending expanse of sand in front of him. Impatiently, he waited for McGee to get his stuff together so they could start canvassing. Finally, they were ready and got in their 4x4. The plan had officially begun.

Hours later, they were thirsty and tired and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of Saleem or his camp. McGee spoke up, "That does it for quadrant Whiskey 4. I'm going to call it in." Tony groaned in frustration and got out of the vehicle, slamming the door as he walked away. McGee had just pulled out his satellite phone when suddenly they were surrounded by men with scarves covering their faces so that only their eyes were visible. Tony noticed them first, "Uh, Timmy." McGee looked up from his phone and paled. Tony tried to remain calm, "Hello, gentlemen. Hi there. We come in peace." The men advanced on Tony. "Say the thing!" Tony called to McGee who said something in Arabic. The men continued on to McGee's door and forced it open. Tony tried again, "Say the other thing!" McGee said something else in Arabic. But it had no effect. McGee was pulled out of his seat and shoved into the side of the 4x4. One of the men hit Tony in the stomach with his gun. Tony doubled over in pain as McGee was hit in the face. McGee fell against the door and then to the ground. Tony straightened up and saw McGee fall. But before he could do anything he was hit in the face and he, too, dropped to the ground unconscious.

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	5. Chapter 5

Ziva awoke with a start. A stabbing pain shot through her head at the sudden movement. For some reason she could not explain she felt something was very wrong. Something was different in the terrorist camp in which she had been imprisoned for months. Ziva forced herself to calm down. Hyperventilating wouldn't help her now. Not wanting the pain in her head to get worse, Ziva carefully turned her head to search her cell for clues. As far as she could tell, everything was as it had always been.

Meanwhile, Saleem's men were dragging Tony and McGee through the compound to another cell. McGee started to stir and one of the guards knocked him out with the butt of his gun. They dropped McGee on the floor of the cell. He lay there unmoving with blood trickling down his face. Turning their attention to Tony who was still unconscious, they propped him up on a wooden chair and tied his wrists to the armrests. The guards barely glanced at their new prisoners as they walked out, locking the door behind them.

...

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